How does the DBS Update Service work for care workers?

The DBS Update Service is a subscription (currently £16 a year for standard and enhanced checks, free for volunteers) that keeps a single DBS certificate live. Instead of applying for a brand-new DBS check every time you join a new care agency, an employer can run an online status check against your existing certificate — with your permission — in seconds. It's what makes a portable DBS care worker possible.

What the Update Service actually does

A DBS certificate is a snapshot: it's accurate on the day it's issued, and the moment it's issued it starts going out of date. Historically, every new employer had to request a fresh certificate, which meant weeks of waiting and repeated paperwork even for carers who'd been checked a month earlier. The Update Service changes this by letting a subscriber's certificate be checked online against the DBS database, showing whether anything has changed since issue — new cautions, convictions, or barred-list information — without generating a whole new certificate.

Who it's for and what level of check applies

For most care roles working with adults who need care and support, you'll need an enhanced DBS carer check, which includes a check against the DBS barred list (the list of people barred from working with vulnerable groups). Standard checks don't include barred-list information, so it's worth confirming with each employer which level your role requires. You can only add a certificate to the Update Service if you subscribe within 30 days of the certificate being issued — so timing your subscription matters.

How the portability works in practice

1. Apply for your DBS check through an employer or registered body (enhanced, with barred-list check if your role needs it).
2. Subscribe to the Update Service within 30 days of the certificate being issued.
3. Give a new employer your surname, date of birth and DBS certificate number.
4. They run an online status check (with your consent) via the DBS website — it tells them if the certificate is still current, or if something's changed since issue.
5. Renew the subscription annually to keep the certificate active; if it lapses, you'll need a new application to get back into the service.

The important caveat: the Update Service only tells an employer whether the certificate is still current. It doesn't replace an employer's own duty to carry out other right-to-work and identity checks, and each organisation still decides its own risk-assessment process around the result. If you're ever unsure which check level or process applies, the DBS's own guidance is the authoritative source, and it's worth asking your agency directly.

Why this matters more for freelance and multi-agency carers

If you only ever work for one employer, portability barely matters — you get checked once and that's that. But freelance and bank carers who pick up shifts across several agencies or care homes feel the pain directly: without the Update Service, each new provider might insist on its own fresh DBS application, which costs time, sometimes money, and can mean turning down last-minute work while you wait for paperwork.

How carer sharing platforms use this

This is exactly the gap a carer-sharing model is built to close. On Nanum, freelance carers go through identity and DBS verification once at the platform layer — including confirming Update Service status — rather than repeating it for every agency they pick up shifts from. Agencies borrowing a carer through Nanum's marketplace can see that verification has been done, and a human at each end still has to approve the match before any shift is confirmed — the aim is to make portability safe and visible, not to skip the checks that keep people safe.

FAQ

Does the DBS Update Service cover both standard and enhanced checks? Yes — subscription is available for standard, enhanced, and enhanced with barred-list checks, at the same £16 annual fee (free for volunteers). The level of check you subscribe with is the level employers will see when they check your status.

What happens if my Update Service subscription lapses? If you don't renew within the 30-day window before expiry, the certificate drops out of the service and you'll need to apply for a brand-new DBS check to get portability again — you can't simply resubscribe to an old certificate after it's lapsed.

Can an employer see my full DBS history through the Update Service check? No — the online status check only confirms whether the certificate is still current and flags if new information has appeared since issue; it doesn't display certificate details itself. The employer still needs to see your actual certificate (or a copy) to view the substantive content.